Upcoming Foreclosures

How can I get rid of a house I no longer want?

My mother in law bought the house I lived in with my husband and family in 1996. She died in 2004, and my husband inherited her property. A friend of his told my husband that until you settle the estate through the courts, you don't have to make the house payments. HA, HA, that wasn't true. So my dumb husband does not make the payments, and the house goes into foreclosure, which he didn't even try to stop...he never even opened the court papers...it was a default judgment. I knew nothing about this; he never told me, and since the mortgage was still in his mother's name, all the paperwork went to the house she had lived in, and I didn't see it. So, the house came within 24 hours of being sold at sheriff's sale. My husband declared emergency bankruptcy. He then dismissed it and went through Loss and mitigation with the mortgage company...BUT...he never took his mother's name off the mortgage. Then, he died suddenly last February, just as the original Loss and Mitigation agreement was coming to an end. I called to explain the situation to them, and the company told me to keep making the payments until they told me otherwise. In May, they put me on the "Obama plan" and told me it would run out in December...BUT...despite the fact that I sent several death certificates in to them, and talked to them, my late mother in law is STILL on the mortgage, and the company still calls and asks to speak to her. The furnace quit in October, a high pressure pipe burst at the beginning of November, the house needs MANY repairs, since my late husband was a do-it-yourselfer who used duct tape to hold everything together. Last month, my 3 kids and I couldn't stand it any longer, since there was no heat, no hot water, (the hot water tank went too), and we had to keep the water shut off until we needed it because the pipe leaked. There was no money for repairs, since my husband left no insurance, no money, and nothing but unpaid debts. So we moved into an apartment. I can't sell the house, the area I live in has so many houses for sale it's not funny. I am not listed as the owner, my husband's name is still on the property, and I’m not on the mortgage. Can I just turn the property over to the bank, and leave it at that. I don't want anything more to do with it. I hate it, and I just want to be free of it. Since I don't own it, or am not on the mortgage, and my husband left no estate worth speaking of, can I hand over the keys and walk away. I live in Ohio.

Public Comments

1. You owe it to yourself to have a consultation with a good real estate attorney. That way it will be handled correctly with a minimum of stress.
2. here you go: http://locate-power-of-attorney.info/?id=tnhnt you can post your job then they'll post it to their lawyers who will get back to you with a definite answer. You then choose who to hire. It's a free service.
3. There are several issues here. It sounds like your mother-in-law's estate went through probate and your husband inherited the property. If the two of you were truly married your name should have been placed on the property along with your husbands. Usually the lending institution will call these loans and simply rewrite one with both of your names on the contract. EVERY mortgage is written this way, so that you cannot simply transfer a mortgage to a third party the bank doesn't recognize. If only your husband's name is listed as the owner and on the mortgage, then when he died there should have been a probate as he owned real property and you have no legal standing to transfer the property in any way. This could be a good thing if you simply want to dump the property. Let the lending institution simply foreclose on the property. It shouldn't hurt your credit rating since if only his name was on the mortgage and listed as the owner there is no connection to you. However, if you are a listed owner and on the mortgage, you can approach the lending institution and offer to sign the property back over to them in lue of payment. This is a way to avoid foreclosure, and while it does effect your credit rating, it will not do so as much as a foreclosure. If you decide to take this course, make sure the contract says that you will return the property in lue of payment with no recourse. If the lending institution cannot resell the property for the full amount due it, this will keep them from coming back on you for the remainder they claim is due. I still don't understand how your husband can declare bankruptcy without you doing so too. This is of course if you were truly married. It simply could not have been done.
4. Get a (good) lawyer involved.